Attachment for Two
by face.able
Summary: When a spell goes wrong, Fred and Hermione find themselves unable to linger away from one another for too long. How will this all play out, through the difficult years to come? HF mainly. Rated M just in case. Read and review!
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note: **I started out a story called "Oh, the Tangled Web" prior to this, but I just wasn't happy with where it was going and I wanted a fresh start, so here I am!** REVIEWS ARE GREATLY APPRECIATED! **I want/need feedback! If you can help me any way, I'll take any** CONSTRUCTIVE **criticism. :) By the way, I do not own these characters, even though I would love to say I came up with them! Creativity at its finest!

This story begins during the summer before the fifth year of the trio, but instead of Grimmauld Place, I have them set at the Burrow. Other than that, I'll follow major timelines within the book, meaning **DEFINITE SPOILERS**! I'm not sure how long this is going to be/get. I'll see as I go along. Also, this will switch between Fred and Hermione's point of views quite a bit.

**Summary:** When a spell goes array, Fred and Hermione find themselves unable to linger away from one another for too long. How will this all play out, through the difficult years to come? HF mainly.

**Chapter One**

"Just because you two are allowed to use magic does not mean that you constantly need to!" hollered Mrs. Weasley as potatoes went flying past her head.

"Sorry, Mum!" Fred hollered back between fits of laughter. One of the potatoes at hit Ginny square in the eye and she was blindly trying to find Fred, who was apparating around the kitchen. With a "pop!" he apparated too close within his mother's reach, and before he could apparate again, Mrs. Weasley grabbed a hold of his ear and pulled him towards her.

"I don't care how old you are, Fred Weasley, you will behave in my house," she hissed. "Now go to your room, and don't come down until dinner."

Fred turned, face beet red, and hurried towards the staircase. Snickers came from the corner where Harry and Ron had been sitting, folding napkins. Fred shot them a deadly glare before running up the stairs into his room. He closed the door behind him and skipped over to his bed, where he laid back, put his hands behind his head, and kicked his shoes off. "Well at least now I don't have to help set up dinner!" he said, chuckling a bit. What a punishment this was.

After an hour, Fred was singing a different tune. What had been relaxation time had turned into work time; unable to idly lay there, Fred had decided to work on the newest product of his and George's slowly building joke shop, a type of love potion that required a strong attachment spell to be placed upon it. At least five books lay open around him on his bed as he cross-referenced the information from each, a vial of pink potion sitting in front of him. Finally, Fred nodded to himself, having assured that he would be doing the spell in the correct way. He pulled his wand from his jean pocket and straightened up. He quickly flicked his wand as he muttered the spell. "Adoria-"

"Fred!" There was a quick knock and then door opened. Hermione's head popped through the opening. "Time for din-"

"Momentia!" Fred finished, but Hermione had startled him; he had turned to face her, and as he did, so did his wand. The spell hit Hermione full force and she fell back onto the landing. Fred jumped up, books flying everywhere, and ran to the landing. A rumble was coming from downstairs, where the rest of the Weasley family was. They must have heard Hermione crash down.

Ron was the first to bound up the stairs. "What the bloody hell did you do!?" he yelled at Fred as he leaned down over Hermione. Mrs. Weasley was shortly after, smacking Ron on the head while muttering something as his language. As she pushed Ron out of the way to get to Hermione, Hermione stirred. Mrs. Weasley helped her to sit up as Hermione grabbed her head.

"Are you alright, dear?" Mrs. Weasley questioned.

"Yes, yes, just my head hurts," Hermione said. "Fred was practicing a charm, I believe, and I startled him. No harm, no foul." She looked up at Fred and silently begged him to go along with this explanation.

"What? Oh, yeah, I mean, yeah, that's all," Fred said. "Just some practicing for school. It was an accident."

Mrs. Weasley seemed to take this explanation easily, and spent the first twenty minutes of dinner lecturing Fred on the proper way to practice and to perform spells. Fred kept his eyes down on his plate the entire time, figuring now would not be the time for smart comebacks. Ron, Harry, Ginny, and George, however, thought it would be a perfect time to mock Fred from where they were sitting, snickering into their napkins occasionally.

Finally, Mrs. Weasley got up as Arthur arrived home. Fred looked up for the first time to find Hermione across from him, staring at him intently. Fred was taken aback and choked on his mouth full of beans. Hermione simply mouthed, "Your room, after dinner, need to talk" before finally turning away and picking up a conversation with Ginny.

Dinner passed rather quickly after that. Fred wasn't looking forward to explaining to Hermione what had happened, and what the possible consequences could be. All too soon, the plates were cleared and washing themselves in the sink, and people were heading off into their own areas to relax and chat, or play games. Hermione stood up, nodded to Fred meaningfully, and headed up the staircase. Fred waited thirty seconds before standing up and following her.

Fred entered his room to find Hermione sitting on the windowsill, her outline framed by the red sun that was setting in the background. As the door creaked open, she turned and hopped down. She waited until the door was close until she began to speak.

"What exactly happened, Fred?" Hermione asked tentatively. "What was that spell?"

Fred sighed and moved to his bed, where he sat down and put his hands in his head. "Well, I had been working on a love potion."

"A love potion? Why on earth would you be making a love potion?"

"The store," Fred muttered. "The store George and I are planning on opening. It's one of the products we'd like to offer. I was using a charm to help strengthen it. And when I was performing the spell, you walked in and startled me, and instead of hitting the potion, I hit you instead."

"Oh," Hermione said. She stood quiet for a while, thinking. Finally she managed to ask, "And what charm was that, exactly?"

"An attachment charm," Fred sighed, finally looking up at Hermione. "And it can't be undone."

Hermione reached back and felt for the windowsill, sitting down on it. "So what happens now, then?"

"From what I read, a bond will slowly begin to form," Fred answered. "There will always be an attachment between us two, from now on. It cannot be broken, it cannot be undone. I'm not exactly sure on what type of bond it means."

"But there has to be something that we can do to counteract it!" Hermione hurriedly replied.

"What, Granger?" Fred smirked. "Does it sound too rough to be attached to me? Am I not good enough?" Fred feigned shock and betrayal, holding a hand over his heart. Hermione grabbed a pillow and chucked at his head, but he easily ducked and avoided it.

"This is serious, Fred, but of course you don't even understand the concept of the word serious!" Hermione said, standing up and crossing her arms over her chest.

"Why yes, I do, I believe he is a man who can turn into a dog, if I am to be right!" Fred laughed at the small glimpse of a smile that flickered on Hermione's face, but it was quickly replaced with a scowl.

"You're outrageous, Fred Weasley," Hermione said, heading towards to the door.

"I just aim to please," Fred joked as she closed the door loudly behind her. He lay back against his bed and the smile fell from his face. He knew this was serious, he just didn't want to let on to her how serious this could be.

**Author's Note: **So? What do you think? I know it's not my best work, and it's rushed, but I just wanted the concept put out there. Give me some ideas on how to improve?** READ AND REVIEW!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note: Thanks for all of the reviews, guys! For some reason, I didn't get an alert about any of them until they ALL came in last night around 11 pm. I guess that's what I get for getting email on my phone, haha. And because a few of the reviews mentioned why they weren't more "upset" (I suppose that's a good word to use) about being attached, that is an extremely valid point, so I'll try to work something into this chapter to make tensions rise. :)**

**But I do have one thing to say, to Binka!: I'm going to incorporate some of Tangled Web into this. I just didn't like where I was going with that one, so I took the easy way out and quit. I'm determined to make this work, though! I myself can't wait to see where this goes!**

**I am changing the rating to M; there will be no "TMI" scenes, just I would like to have a little more fun and I would be restricted with the T rating. You have been warned.**** Now on to the story!**

**Chapter Two**

Hermione paced around Ginny's room, one hand resting against her hip while the other rubbed her temple. _That insufferable boy!,_ Hermione thought. _Messing around with spells, and he dare make a joke about it! That's all life is to him, a huge joke, and we're just here to be the entertainment for him! And to barely give me any details! How dare he! You'd think he'd let me know what kind of spell it was! I'll have to look it up, and who knows how long that will take with the lack of a proper library. Unless…_ Hermione stopped pacing. Fred must have some books on this matter, he was performing what was possible a high-difficulty spell. Yes! There were books that had been lying out on his bed when she had walked in! _I'll just wait until he leaves his room, and then I'll go in a snatch one!_

Her plan may have succeeded, if it weren't for the fact that the twins decided tonight would be a good night to hole themselves up in their rooms. Hermione walked up and down the stairs so many times, her legs were sore by the time it reached midnight. Ron and Harry had just disappeared up the staircase to head to bed, while Ginny had excused herself over an hour ago. Hermione sat alone in the empty living room, contemplating her choices. She could either wait until the morning, or sneak into the room now while they were asleep and retrieve the book. Morning was too far away for her, she couldn't possibly wait until then. She jumped off the couch and hurried up the stairs.

At the second landing, she paused outside of their room. With her ear to the door, she listened for a good minute, waiting to see if they were still awake, but all she heard was light snoring. Slowly, she turned the handle and pushed the door open. Enough moonlight was coming through the window that she could make out the shapes of the beds and mounds of clothing and other things on the floor. Slowly, she crept to the far side of the room. She glanced at the bed, making sure Fred hadn't wakened, but he showed no signs of movement. She kneeled down and felt around the floor; nothing. Her eyes adjusted to the low light, she looked up to his bedside table and saw a stack of books sitting there. She crawled slowly, wincing as she hit a squeaky floorboard, and reached up to grab the book on the top of the pile. After successfully managing to grab it, she hurried as quietly as possible out of the room. She slowly pulled the door behind her so that there was a crack left.

Hermione settled herself down outside of the door on the landing and opened the book. She had heard the last of the spell, "Momentia," and was hoping that she would be able to find it easily. She was successful in her pursuit after five minutes of searching. She settled herself back against the wall and began to read:

_Adoria Momentia, otherwise known as the "love damnation spell," is used by the most extreme searchers of love. One must simply cast the spell on those who they wish to gain attention from, and that person shall gradually begin to find themselves attached emotionally, and physically, to the caster of the spell. Likewise, the caster of the spell, having said and performed the spell, will be under its power, too, and will begin to attach themselves emotionally and physically to the other._

_The attachment includes having to be physically near the other, and having to be emotionally attached to the other. This, however, does not mean that one must like the other. This is why, often times, this spell is paired with a love potion, so as to gain the attachment along with the requited love. If not paired, and if given the wrong circumstances with the wrong person, the attachment can hinder any future plans or relationships that one wishes to have._

_This spell is highly dangerous, as there is no counterspell. As said before, only the most extreme searchers have resorted to this type of magic. They will never be able to part from the person, unless under the circumstance of death._

Hermione's eyes widened. She dropped the book beside her and put her head in her hands, shaking it slowly. She was fuming; forever stuck to that prat, Fred Weasley. That prat, would hadn't bothered to tell her how serious this was! Never before had she experienced this type of anger! How dare he do this to her! How dare he wish this upon her! "Damnation spell," indeed!

Hermione sat there for a while longer, letting herself calm down a reasonable amount before getting ready to return the book. She slowly let herself back into the room, and without bothering to crawl this time, slipped the book back onto the table. Just as she was turning to leave, a hand grabbed a hold of her arm, and she let out a loud gasp.

"Sshh!" Fred hissed, reaching up and covering her mouth with his hand to stifle the noise. "You're going to wake George up, and this would be a bit hard to explain, wouldn't you think?" Hermione glared at him, not realizing that he couldn't see her due to lack of light. "So what," Fred continued in a barely audible whisper, letting his hand slip from her mouth, "You already can't resist me? You already need some Fred time?"

Hermione drew in a deep gulp of arm, anger returning to her, vibrating through her. She slammed her finger into his chest. "HOW DARE YOU NOT TELL ME HOW SERIOUS THIS IS!" she hissed loudly. "YOU THINK YOU CAN PLAY WITH OTHER PEOPLES LIVES BUT YOU CAN'T!"

Fred was about to retaliate when shuffling came from the other side of the room; George had awoken, and was shifting to look over on Fred's side of the room to figure out what had woken him. Fred quickly grabbed Hermione and pulled down onto the bed next to him, on the side away from George, his larger body blocking hers from view. He also put a finger over her lips, for good measure.

"Wassamatta, Fred?" George groggily sat up.

"Nothing, just a cat outside, I reckon," Fred answered. "Go on back to sleep."

George seemed to think this was a reasonable answer and flipped back over to fall asleep once again. Fred leaned forward so his mouth was placed right next to Hermione's ear, and whispered so softly she could barely hear, "George can't know you're in here, he'll rat and tell Mum. We need to wait for him to fall asleep before you can leave. Do you understand?" Hermione was about to answer when he pushed harder against her lips with his finger. "Don't speak, I know you're angry with me, but we cannot be caught. I'll explain everything tomorrow, if you just agree. Do you agree?" Hermione slowly nodded her head. "Can I take my finger off your lips now and you'll behave." Hermione slammed her elbow into his side; he'd obviously offended her. Nonetheless, she nodded in agreement and he removed his finger.

A twin sized bed was not nearly big enough for the two of them; yes, Hermione was skinny and petite, but Fred was tall with a decent amount of muscles. Together on the bed, they were smashed against one another. Hermione was still fuming; she didn't want a part in this, but here she was, stuck. Fred, on the other hand, was worried. Hermione had been returning a book when she came in the room, meaning she had read the full extent of what the spell meant. He'd been hoping to keep it from her, at least for the time being.

_I don't know what the bloody hell I'm going to do about this, _he thought. _Stuck with Hermione Granger for the rest of my life. Constant rules and nagging and being told that I'm not doing good enough, that I should do more, that I can't do this or that. Constant unhappiness, is what that girl is. Never good enough, never nearly good enough. I've condemned myself._

That was when Hermione shifted and relaxed a little; she was falling asleep. Fred knew George wasn't asleep yet, and there was nothing he could do, but falling asleep was risky. He reached over her body to shake her to wake up, when something in his heart pulled; something was telling him to let her sleep, to let her lay there and be comfortable. He tried to reach once again, but this time the pull in his heart was stronger and hurt a bit. A lay his arm limp against his side and sighed. The attachment was beginning to take form. _Oh bloody hell, what have I gotten myself into…_


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's Note: **Thanks for all of the reviews, guys! For those who asked questions, we'll have to wait and see, won't we? ;D And sorry about the time it took to write this! I didn't like it the first time I did it, so I erased it completely and redid it again.

**To Binka:** That last review you wrote! It gave me a great idea! So when the time comes, I will give some credit to you. :)

**Chapter Three**

Rays of sunlight came filtering in through the dirty window, casting light on Fred's face. It got to be too much and he shifted groggily, turning his face into the darkness of the pillow. He was about to reach up and scratch his nose when he realized that his arm was wrapped around something. He moved his arm around the object more, trying to figure out what it was. He turned his head up and finally opened his eyes, to be met by brown curls on his pillow. Realization struck, and he jumped up. He glanced over and saw George was still in his bed sleeping, then turned back and shook Hermione gently. She murmured something and curled up into a protective ball. Fred sighed and shook her again, more urgent this time. Finally she opened her eyes and turned to him. The same realization struck her.

"Oh no!" she whispered. "What if someone's noticed, is George still asleep, what…what is that?" She moved the lower half of her body; something was rubbing up against her. As she moved up against it, Fred let out an involuntary moan. Hermione gasped, realizing what it was. "That's disgusting!" she said loudly. George stirred, and quickly, Fred grabbed Hermione around her middle and Disapparated out of the room. They landed on the couch in the living room, where Hermione quickly pushed off of him and backed up quickly, a look of horror on her face.

"Oi, think you were loud enough?!" Fred said, grabbing a pillow to hold on his lap to hide his "problem."

"Why is that there?!" Hermione shrieked.

"Every male has one, Hermione, or did you not know that?"

"I meant…why is it…like that?" Hermione hissed, blushing furiously.

"You don't know why it happens?" Fred asked. "How sheltered are you?"

Hermione clenched her fists. "I meant why is it like that NOW, while I'm there!"

The smirk slipped off Fred's face. His face became as red, if not redder, than Hermione's. "It's the morning, I guess…" he mumbled.

Hermione held her hand up quickly, quieting him. "I don't need to know anymore. Let's just pretend this didn't happen, okay?" She nodded to herself before he could answer, confirming to herself that it was the best idea. "Now what are we going to do about this? There has to be something we can do."

"Didn't you read the book you pilfered from my room last night?" Fred questioned, rolling his eyes. "There is nothing we can do. There is no counterspell. We're stuck like this."

"What 'this' is, I'm still not exactly sure," Hermione answered. "I personally don't feel anything at all. I haven't yet. Have you?"

Fred paused before answering. "Yes." Hermione glanced down at the pillow still sitting on his lap. "NO NOT THAT!" he shouted. Hermione shushed him quickly, glancing up at the ceiling, but no noise was overheard from above. Fred continued, "Just something happened. It's no big deal."

"Yes, it's a big deal!" Hermione said, advancing on him. "You may think it's quite alright to keep information from me, Fred Weasley, like you chose to do when this first happened, but it is not alright with me! I wouldn't have had to 'pilfer' that book if you had been honest with me from the start!"

"I have been honest!" Fred said heatedly. "You never needed to know how serious it is, I thought you would take it too hard, and look! Exactly what I thought!"

"You think I can't handle this?!" Hermione said. "Look here, you!" She pointed her finger in his face. "I think out of the both of us, I'm the one that actually can take things seriously! You haven't got a serious bone in your body! All life is to you is a big game, just a huge joke, and no hard work at all! Where do you think that will get you in life?"

Fred pushed her finger out of his face as he stood up. Standing next to one another, Hermione's head only came up to his chest. He towered over her, face angry. "Don't even act like you know anything about me, Hermione!" he said. "You always walk around with a chip on your shoulder, acting like you know everything, but that's far from the truth! Who cares if you're book smart? Books only get you so far. Maybe if you got your face out of them once in a while, you'd be able to make more friends, or at least understand the human kind the slightest bit!"

Fred was raging with anger. His face was red, his fists were clenched, and he was breathing hard. Hermione mirrored his stance until he began yelling back at her, when the look of anger fell from her fast and her fists went limp by her side. Her shoulders sagged down as she listened to him mock her and her life. What he was saying was so…harsh. But was it true?

Fred waited for her to retaliate, but all he could see was her begin to break down what he had said. It began to anger him more that she wasn't answering until he saw a tear run down her cheek. He let go of his fists and opened his mouth to say something, but he couldn't figure out what he could say, so he closed it again. Hermione lowered her eyes from his, not wanting him to see her weakness. _He can't know he hurt me,_ she told herself. As another tear fell, Hermione turned on her heel and quickly hurried up the staircase. Fred stood there, watching her go. He kept his eyes fixed on the spot at the bottom of the stairs where she had disappeared from his sight until he heard a door close from somewhere above. He'd done it this time.

As the sun rose up in the sky, the house began to stir. Mrs. Weasley came bustling down into the kitchen, getting breakfast ready for the family, while the boys all went outside to de-gnome the garden. Ginny and Hermione, meanwhile, were inside peeling potatoes manually for dinner later that night.

"Hermione, is everything alright?" Ginny asked, leaning across the table to look at Hermione closely. "You don't look so good."

Hermione jumped, startled by Ginny's voice. She had been lost in her own thoughts. "Yes, yes, I'm fine."

Ginny looked at her skeptically. "You know I'll figure it out if you're lying to me, don't you?"

Hermione put her potato down and sighed in exasperation. "Ginny, I'm NOT lying to you, okay?"

Ginny leaned back into her chair. "Okay, Hermione, geeze…"

The boys all filed in from the garden, covered in dirt and sweat. Mrs. Weasley carried plates full of food to the table and used her wand to clear away the potatoes to a container in the corner of the kitchen. Ron and Harry took either side of Hermione and set to work clearing off their plates. George was busy joking around with Ginny.

"That last gnome out there looked exactly like our dear Fredward," George said.

"That means he looked exactly like you!" Ginny laughed.

"Oh, but dear sister, I am the good looking twin," George said. "But just for safe measure, I gave it a right good kick before flinging it over the fence. Didn't I, Fred?"

"Huh?" Fred said, looking up. He hadn't been paying attention to their conversation, but had been listening over to see if Hermione was mentioning anything to Ron or Harry.

"Look at that, as dumb as a gnome, too!" George said. Ginny choked on her orange juice.

Fred ignored them and finally looked over Hermione's way, and was surprised to find that once again, she was looking right back at him. Fred opened his mouth to mouth the words 'I'm sorry' to her but she just smiled and nodded before he could. He relaxed and a smile played on his lips. It didn't seem odd to him at all that she had known what he was going to do; he chose not to think about it.

**READ AND REVIEW!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four**

Hermione snuck out of the house that evening, while the sun outside was setting, casting a warm glow over the countryside. She carried a book with her into the garden, where she settled down by some rose bushes. Crickets chirped as she flipped slowly through the pages, reading over counterspells to other love enchantments and antidotes to love potions. The light was almost gone when she heard footfalls behind her. She turned around to see Fred walking towards her. She laid her book open on her lap as he lowered himself to sit down beside her.

"Listen, Hermione," he began. "About earlier today, I shouldn't have said anything like that."

"You just told the truth. I can't hold that against you. It's okay."

"But it's not okay. I was too harsh on you."

Hermione looked up into his face, a soft smile on her lips. "Thank you, Fred." Fred looked down on Hermione. The last rays of sun shone on her face. Her lips looked soft and pink and her brown curls fell around her face, framing her pale face. He began to smile, and Hermione gave him a questioning look. "What's wrong?"

Fred shook his head. "Nothing's wrong." He looked down at the book that was sitting in her lap and saw a few of the subjects on one page. "What are you doing?"

Hermione turned her attention to the book. "I'm trying to see if there's anything from other love spells and potions that would help our situation." Fred opened his mouth to once again tell her there was no counterspell when she said, "I know, I know. There isn't something for our condition. But I thought maybe something else could lessen its affects, or maybe slow it down even more."

"Why, you don't want to be next to meeeeeee?" Fred asked playfully, snuggling up next to her. Hermione laughed and playfully shoved him aside. "Oh my!" Fred exclaimed. "Did you just attempt to joke back?"

Hermione shoved him once more, a bit more forcefully this time, and grinned. "I'm not as pathetic as you may think."

"But my lady, I never said you were pathetic," Fred said, leaning closer to her. "Just that you could use a bit fun in your life."

Hermione breathed in; she could smell him, he was so close to her. "Who says I don't have fun in my life?"

Fred's lips moved closer to her ear. "You haven't experienced fun until you've spent a day with me."

A shiver ran up Hermione's spine as his breath tickled her ear. She took another sharp intake of air and held it. She turned her face slightly towards his. "And why is that?" she asked softly.

"Because I know how to really have fun," he answered. He reached up and rolled one of her curls between his thumb and index finger. She finally met his eyes. Her heart was beating wildly inside of her chest as he leaned closer to her.

"FRED! HERMIONE!" Ginny's voice cut through the air. "Are you two out here? Mum wants everyone inside!"

Hermione jumped up quickly, grabbing her book. Fred looked up at her, seeing the tinge of blush on her cheeks. Hermione look at him for a few seconds, wondering what she should say. When she found nothing, she just turned and hurried inside.

The rest of the evening was going by without much out of the ordinary. Fred and Ron were playing a game of Exploding Snap, George was making his own commentary to the game, and Harry was laughing along. Hermione and Ginny sat in the corner away from the group, closer to the fireplace, half paying attention, half carrying on their own conversation.

"What were you doing outside?" Ginny asked. "I hadn't seen you for an hour before you came in."

"I was just doing some reading," Hermione said.

"Figures," Ginny said. Out of anyone else, this would have offended Hermione, would have made her feel judged, made her feel easy to read, but from Ginny, she knew it wasn't mean-hearted. "Mum sent Fred out to look for you but of course he can't carry through anything."

"Right," Hermione said. "Ginny, listen. I was wondering…have you ever seen Fred with a girl before? Like, how he acts?"

Ginny snorted. "More like when have I NOT? He's a bit of a player, that one. Always whispering into girl's ears, always making them giddy and giggly. Makes them act like right idiots, he does." She looked over at Hermione, her eyebrow raised. "Why do you ask?"

"No reason," Hermione answered quickly, but her cheeks were red. Ginny kept looking at her like she knew that there was more than Hermione was letting on. "Seriously, Ginny, it's nothing!" Hermione averted her eyes, but found that they fell on Fred. She quickly look back to Ginny, whose face was full of revelation.

"Hermione! Really?" Ginny grinned. "Oh, don't even tell me that you've fallen for the goon!"

"No! Certainly not! Just, something happened. And let's just say, it's going to be hard to avoid him from now on."

Ginny nodded. "So this is what you weren't telling me earlier today?"

Hermione sighed. "You're too perceptive for your own good."

"It's more a curse than a gift, really," Ginny answered, and both of the girls smiled at one another. Their conversation lulled and they both turned their attention to the boys. Hermione was watching Fred. _I'm determined to keep my distance from you. You're not going to do that to me again, like you do to other girls. Besides, my reaction…was because of this spell. Not because of you, because of this spell. That's right._ She nodded to herself, choosing to believe this rather than admit that it may have been a mixture of both. _I've got my eye on you; you're not going to catch me off guard again._


	5. Chapter 5

**Author's Note: **KEEP THE REVIEWS COMING!

**Chapter Five**

The remainder of the summer holiday passed by without much incident. Most of the time was spent packing for the coming year, which was rather hard considering the amount of teenagers and the ability of their objects to spread themselves all over the house. Only on the night before the return to school did everyone finally have their belongings packed into their trunks. They celebrated one last night of vacation with a feast that the girls had worked on all day, with visitors such as Lupin, Tonks, Sirius, and Mad-Eye Moody.

The next morning they all awoke earlier than they were accustomed, and as a result all were sleepy eyed and drowsy as they made their way with their luggage down the stairs. Mr. Weasley had enlisted the help of Muggle taxi cabs from the city to transport them to London. The ride was long and cramped; the inability to do magic to enlarge the inside of the cabs was frustrating. Finally, at 10:45, they arrived at the station. Mrs. Weasley rushed them through the barrier and onto the train, but not before hugging and kissing all of them and using her usual warnings in hope of keeping the twins in line.

As the train set off, Hermione and Ron made their way up to the front, where the prefect's compartment was, while Harry, Ginny, Fred, and George found an empty compartment near the back.

"Must be an awful pain, being a prefect," Ginny commented. "You never get to relax at all, do you?"

"Oh, Hermione's going to have loads of fun with this," said George. "She was always bossy before when it came to the rules, but now she has a reason to. We're doomed."

Harry smiled good naturedly. "She has her moments."

"Hermione Granger, breaking rules?" Fred questioned. "I'll see it when I believe it."

"Don't you remember our first year, with the troll?" Harry asked. "Then of course, there's Norbert, you remember us telling you about him. And there is that time she punched Malfoy in the face."

George's mouth dropped. "She punched him?!"

The rest of the morning was spent going through the adventures that the trio had been through in their first four years at Hogwarts, until lunchtime came around and the compartment door opened to reveal Hermione and Ron. Both hurried in and closed the door, sitting in the available seats. The topic of the morning was dropped, and the rest of the train ride was spent talking about Quidditch, the upcoming year, and who they thought would fill the Defense Against Dark Arts post.

***

It was already a week into school. Hermione hadn't seen much of Fred lately; she had begun her O.W.L. classes, and he was busy with his N.E.W.T. classes. Anytime she had seen him, he was surrounded by his usual group of admirers in the common room while she had been in the corner studying. Never before had she realized how many girls had flocked around the twins, and never before had she felt such rage inside of her anytime a girl so much as giggled at anything Fred had to say. Such a thing was happening as she sat by the fire with Harry and Ron, taking a break from homework. Her eyes were locked on the middle of the room, where the twins were boasting about the newest product for their "up and coming magic joke shop" that they had made. Hermione's hand tightened around her wand as a particularly blonde-haired girl playfully squeezed Fred's bicep.

"Oi! Hermione!" Hermione shook her head and turned towards the source of the noise: Ron. "I've said your name five times already, what's with you?"

"Sorry, Ron," she answered, loosening her grip on her wand. "My mind was elsewhere."

"Well, that's obvious. Anyway, I was just wondering, since Harry has detention this Saturday and it's the first Hogsmeade trip of the year…were you still planning on going?"

Hermione's eyes widened. "Well, yes, I mean…if you were still planning on going."

"Right," Ron said. "Right, so then we're going together."

"I suppose so," Hermione answered, giving him a strange look.

"It's a date then," Ron said. His eyes widened as he realized what he had said and his face turned beet red, but instead of fixing it, he just turned his face away from her to try to hide his blush.

The common room began to slowly clear out as time passed and people started heading off to bed. Harry said good night first, and shortly after Ron said good night, giving Hermione an awkward pat on the head before hurrying up the staircase. Hermione pulled out a book from her bag and began reading. When she finally looked up, she realized that it was only she, Fred, and a few girls left in the common room, but the girls, too, headed up to their dormitories. Hermione closed her book as Fred approached her.

"Haven't seen you in quite a while," Hermione said.

"Not since that night in the garden." Fred waggled his eyebrows at her.

"Oh, come off it, you," Hermione said. "I don't know what game you think you're playing at. You may think you can treat other girls the way you treat them but you most certainly will not treat me the same."

"And what would that be, Granger?"

Pink tinged Hermione's cheeks. "Ginny told me what you do to girls. I believe she even called you a player."

"Did she, now?"

"Yes, as a matter of fact, she did."

Fred leaned back in his chair, putting his hands behind his head. "Well now, I don't know if that could be considered an insult."

Hermione stood up, outraged. "You're absolutely disgusting, Fred Weasley! How can you simply treat girls like they don't mean anything? Like it's all just a game?"

Fred stood up and towered over her. "I don't treat it like it's a game, _Hermione Granger_. You don't want people to judge you, then maybe you shouldn't be so quick to judge yourself."

Hermione gripped her wand. "I'm not judging; I'm stating the obvious, and the obvious is that you're a right git with no heart!" She lifted her wand up and pointed it at him.

"What are you going to do?" Fred asked coolly. "Put a little curse on me? Because believe me, the worst one has already been done, and that's the attachment charm that left me stuck to a person like you!" Fred whipped out his own wand.

"How dare you!" Hermione cried, and she swished her wand while saying, "Petrificus Totalus!" Fred buckled up and fell over onto the carpet. Hermione tucked her wand into her robes, kneeled down beside him and whispered, "Good night, baby," into his ear, before gathering her belongings and leaving him in the common room, cursed and alone.

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	6. Chapter 6

**Author's Note:** Thanks for the great reviews! I'm taking everything you say into consideration, and definitely keep them coming! Also, I realize I never said anything before, but you probably guessed, there will be some Hermione and Ron going on. I just really want to complicate things, don't I?

**Chapter Six**

The whole school was talking about it the next morning: someone had finally pulled one over on Fred Weasley instead of the other way around. Fred was subjected to jokes, pointing, laughter, and taunting as he walked through the halls the next day, but as he was Fred Weasley, he knew how to take all of it in stride. However, in the back on his head, he was furious that Hermione had done that to him, and not even come back to help him.

Hermione, on the other hand, had had her laugh when she fell asleep, but she found herself tossing and turning in the middle of the night, unable to sleep for more than an hour at a time. When she woke up in the morning, exhausted and with a headache, she felt horrible about her antics the night before. She had been avoiding seeing Fred all day, skipping breakfast and lunch in the library and hurrying to her classes. Harry and Ron didn't find anything unusual about this; Hermione constantly stayed up late to study, and likewise with skipping meals.

Finally, evening broke and it found Hermione once again in the library. Fred had been itching to have a good row with her all day, telling her what for, and hadn't seen her once. He made his way to Harry and Ron, who were sitting in the corner of the common room, playing Exploding Snap.

"Do either of you two know where Hermione is?" Fred asked. Ginny looked up, her eyes full of suspicion. George, on the other hand, let out a laugh.

"What would you want to be finding Hermione for, Fredward?" George asked.

"None of your business, Georgie," Fred answered without looking at him. The smile fell off of George's face; usually Fred let him in on all the mischief that he did, but Fred was blocking him out. He looked over to the others, and saw Ginny's face. She winked at him, and George's smile returned once more.

"I suspect she's in the library," Harry answered, missing out on all of the unspoken Weasley language taking place.

"Thanks," Fred said, and he hurried out of the common room before they could ask anymore questions. It was a quick walk to the library, what with all the secret passageways that he knew. Shortly, he was outside of the library. Once in, he began walking through the many rows of old books, in search of the one he wanted to yell at most. Finally, he turned a corner and saw her sitting at a table by herself, books piled up around her, nose inches from the parchment she was scraping away at.

"So, you think that's funny, do you?" Fred asked, advancing on her until he was towering over her seated form. "Leaving me in the common room, unable to move all night? And with a horrible itch just above my left buttocks, no less!"

Hermione's head snapped up as he approached. "Fred, I…" She seemed at a loss for words. Fred waited, anticipating a smart remark back from her; hoping for a smart remark. He wanted to fight with her, he wanted to make her feel bad as she had done to him. "Fred, I'm so sorry," she finished, hugging him around his waist, as that was the highest point of him she could comfortably reach while he was standing and she sitting.

"Yeah, well!" Fred began angrily, before realizing what she had done. He stopped awkwardly and looked down at her.

"I don't know what's gotten into me," Hermione continued. "I never would have done something like that before. Well, maybe to Malfoy, but you're nothing like Malfoy, I shouldn't have done it. I should have come right back down and freed you from that bind, but I didn't. I don't know what's gotten into me," she repeated.

Fred reached down and patted her head awkwardly, anger dissipating quickly. "It's alright, Granger," he said. He pulled himself from her arms and sat down next to her.

"Can I ask you something?" Hermione asked him. Once he nodded, she continued. "Have you been feeling…different towards me? Different feelings?"

Fred paused. "Well, I guess you could say that. What type of feelings?"

Hermione blushed and turned her head from him. "Well, more…romantic feelings, I suppose."

Fred smiled. "I guess you could say that."

"But it's just the spell, right?" Hermione asked.

"Blimey, Granger," Fred said, mocking offense. "Would it be that horrible to actually have feelings for me? I'm offended!"

Hermione let a giggle out. "You know what I mean, stop being silly."

Fred relaxed against the back of his chair and studied her face. The evening light coming through the window was once again hitting it that way that it had weeks ago in the garden. Without makeup, she was extraordinary to behold, even more so than all the girls that do wear makeup. Her hair had lost most of the frizz that he had held when he first met her, but it was still unique, still very Hermione Granger and unlike any other girl he'd seen before.

"I do know what you mean," he said quietly. "I know exactly what you mean." He leaned forward towards her and pushed a stray curl out of her face and behind her ear. "The question is, what are we going to do about this?"

Hermione gulped. "I'm not….entirely c-certain," she stuttered. Why was it so hot in here? Why was it so hard for her to breathe? "M-maybe…if we just ignore them, they'll g-go away, or maybe not get any w-worse, because of the spell, you know?"

"If that's what you want," Fred said, taking his hand from her face, where it had stayed after pushing the curl away.

Hermione didn't answer, but turned back towards the table. "I really should be getting back to work on this essay. It's due in a week and that's not much time to really do it."

Fred chuckled. "You need to learn how to have a little fun, Granger! Come on!" He whipped out his wand and swiped it once over the table; all of her belongings flew into her bag. He quieted her as she began to protest and grabbed her bag. "Come on, seriously! Now go drop this in your dormitory, and meet me down by the front doors in ten minutes."

"But it's past curfew to be outside!" Hermione protested.

"Sssh!" Fred hushed her. "Just do as I say, alright?"

Hermione frowned, but she nodded, took her bag, and headed off for her dormitory. Fred headed down to the front doors and waited for her. Finally, he heard footsteps and looked to see her coming down the stairs. He waited until she was at the bottom before grabbing a hold of her hand and pulling her out the front doors and onto the twilit grounds.

"Where on earth on we going?" Hermione asked as she stumbled to keep up with Fred; he still had a hold of her.

"You'll see soon enough," Fred answered. Hermione sighed. She knew she wasn't going to get anything out of him until they reached their destination. It took a ten minute walk, but finally they were at the Quidditch Pitch. Fred led her inside of the Gryffindor locker room, where he grabbed his broom.

"Oh no!" Hermione said, backing up. "I do not do broomsticks!"

"You'll be fine, just trust me," Fred answered.

"Trust a Weasley twin? Do you think I'm insane?"

Fred turned around and faced her. "Look me in the eye." Hermione did so. "Now trust me." Hermione watched him for a moment, until she saw something within his eyes. She finally nodded and Fred grinned. "Alright then, come on!" He led her back outside, where he stepped over his broomstick. "Now get on in front of me."

Hermione stared reluctantly at the broom. "You want me in the front?"

Fred nodded. "Yes. I'll be able to hold onto you, I can fly with one hand. Remember, trust me." Hermione sighed and walked over to the broom. She swung her leg over. "Great, now grab a hold of the handle. Don't worry about trying to steer or anything like that, I've got that, just use it to balance yourself." Hermione did as he said. "Alright now, get ready." He reached one arm around her while the other reached past her to hold onto the broom, and he kicked off of the ground.

Hermione let out an involuntary squeak as they flew up into the sky. She shut her eyes tight and held a death grip on the broom. "Don't let me go!" she yelled.

Fred leaned forward and whispered in her ear, "I've got you."

Hermione shivered, and it had nothing to do with the chill of the night air. Fred turned the broom and flew towards the mountains on the Hogwarts grounds, where the lake followed in a type of valley. Hermione finally gained the courage to open her eyes and look around.

"I've never been on this part of the grounds before," she exclaimed.

"That's because it's only accessible by broom, basically," Fred answered. "If you look over to the right, you see that smoke coming from the trees. That's the centaur's main living area in the forest." He chuckled. "For complaining about humans so much and wanting to be separated from us, they sure do seem a bit civilized like us."

Fred coaxed the broom to the left, and flew off towards another part of the valley. Hermione sat up a bit straighter and looked around her. It was beautiful out here, with the trees still holding onto to their leaves and the darkening sky casting the area in shades of red, orange, pink, and purple. Never before would she had imagined that she'd be doing this.

Fred flew around until he was nearly too dark to see, and finally he turned and headed back towards the Quidditch Pitch. Once he was close enough, he leaned forward and whispered into her ear once more. "I'm going to land now. We're going to have to lean forward. You're not going to like it, but you just need to trust me. I won't touch down; I'll hover just high enough for you to climb off." Hermione nodded, and closed her eyes once more. She trembled as Fred went into a shallow dive and they began their descent.

"It's okay now," Fred finally said, and Hermione opened her eyes. She saw that she was able to get off, and quickly she did. Fred touched down and walked into the locker room to put the broom away, then returned back to her side.

"So," said Hermione as they walked back up to the castle, "how many girls have you done that with?"

"What do you mean?" Fred asked, confused.

"Just that I've heard about the reputation you have around here, so I was just wondering."

Fred looked over at her. "Who have you been talking to?"

"That's really none of your business, now is it?" Hermione said in a joking manner before taking off and running towards the school.

Fred smiled and quickly followed suit, and was easily able to catch up to her. He jumped and tackled her to the ground, and he lay on top of her as they both laughed. Finally, they were able to control themselves. Panting, he looked down at her.

"I don't think I'm that bad of a person," Fred said quietly. "I may not have been a perfect gentleman before, but I'm not nearly as bad as some people say."

"I'm sorry if I judged you," Hermione said meekly.

Fred smiled. "It's alright. I know I judged you, too."

Silence passed by as they lay there, until finally Hermione cleared her throat. "We really need to be getting back, though. Not to mention you're crushing my ribs."

"Oh, right, sorry," Fred said as he quickly got up. They made their way back into the castle and to the common room undetected. Hermione entered first, and after waiting a few minutes, Fred entered after her. He looked around, but saw that she must have gone straight to her dormitory. He sighed. _That girl is something…_


	7. Chapter 7

**Author's Note:** I just wanted to note that I'm taking things a bit slower because I want this story to have the potential to go a long way, and I don't want to dry out too many things too soon. So be patient, my avid readers, all the goodies you're craving will come in due time. ;)

**Chapter Seven**

Saturday morning was here within a blink of an eye. Hermione awoke that morning, nervous more than ever. Her mind had been going over and over the other night with Fred in her head, not to mention that fact that she was going to Hogsmeade with Ron today, on what Ron himself had called a 'date.' She wasn't exactly sure what he had meant, but he had acted very finicky when he had asked her, there was no denying that. And Fred…

Hermione sighed. Fred had opened her eyes to a new side of things. To some unexplainable fun. He had been right. She needed to relax sometimes, and just do something out of the ordinary. And he had shown her that. Constantly she had been going through her head, reminding herself that this was the charm working right now, that it wasn't just something natural building up between them. But still, she couldn't help but smile every time she thought of riding the broomstick with Fred, or when he had been laying on top of her…

Fred, on the other hand, was trying his hardest not to think about it, for every time that he began thinking about him, another, more sensitive part of his body began thinking about it also. It couldn't be helped, though; thinking of the way Hermione had let loose around him excited him. Thinking of the way he had laid on top of her, and the way she looked, at excited him. For the days that had proceeded their evening together, he began seeing Hermione in this brand new light. Never before had he noticed the subtle beauty of her petite frame. He trembled thinking about it, but quickly pulled himself together.

As he descended the boys' staircase into the common room, he saw Ron standing awkwardly in the middle of the room, looking extremely nervous. Fred put a crooked grin on his face and skipped over to his youngest brother. "Ronniekins, what are you looking so nervous about?" Fred asked.

"Mind your own business," Ron mumbled.

"Oooo, not in a chatty mood today, are we?" Fred asked. "Come now, tell big brother Fred what has got your mind all scattered more than usual?"

Ron sighed. "If you must know, Hermione and I are going to Hogsmeade together today."

"How is that unusual?" Fred asked. "Don't you always go to Hogsmeade together?"

Ron blushed. "This time's a bit more different, if you get what I mean."

Fred didn't get what Ron meant, until he saw a smile play on Ron's lips, and he understood. All of a sudden, Fred's insides twisted and anger over took him. Before he knew what he was doing, he grabbed Ron's arm and spun him around to face him. Ron looked up at Fred first in surprise, but then Ron's faced mirrored Fred's in anger. Just when Ron was about to yell at Fred, and Fred had his arm raised, did a voice call out, "What are you two doing now?" Both boys turned to look at who had spoken, and saw Hermione standing at the bottom of the girls' staircase. Fred took a sharp intake of breath, as did Ron. Hermione looked radiant; dark blue jeans, a snug fitting olive green sweater with a slightly lower neckline than she usually wore that showed off her modest petite body in just the right way, plus a white jacket and navy blue scarf. She had managed to keep her curls from frizzing at all and they hung down around her face and down past her shoulders. She had even attempted a small amount of makeup that didn't look bad on her at all.

Fred and Ron pulled away from one another. "Fred was just having a meltdown, that's all," Ron said. "Are you ready to go?" Hermione nodded, but glanced over at Fred. He caught her eye, but she quickly looked away. Ron led her to the portrait hole, and with one last glare at Fred, they disappeared together.

Fred sat down on the armchair. Hermione had actually gotten up and put herself together for Ron. She had tried to look good for Ron. What was that about? Wasn't he the one that she had the bloody attachment spell with? It infuriated him. She was just playing games with him at this point. Well, two could play at that game.

***

Hermione had felt guilty, leaving with Ron like that and Fred being left behind. It had already started off a bad morning, after being Parvati and Lavender's beauty project of the morning. Her face felt caked on to her with the makeup they had applied, and the shirt that Lavender had given to Hermione to wear was much too low cut for her taste. However, she was determined to have a good afternoon with Ron.

Truth be told, she had always felt strong feelings towards Ron, but now with this whole fiasco with Fred, she wasn't quite sure what was going to happen. She had never expected anything to happen at all. Her head was spinning round and round in circles when she was snapped out of her own thoughts.

"Fred was acting like a blazing lunatic back there," Ron commented. "I don't know what his issue was."

"Maybe he had a reaction to one of those projects that those two are always testing," Hermione suggested, hoping to get the topic away from Fred.

"Yeah, maybe. Er…you look really good, 'Mione." Ron blushed.

Hermione reached over and squeezed Ron's hand once before letting it go. "Thanks, Ron."

The afternoon was spent roaming around the main street of Hogsmeade, going through the many stores. Ron was oddly more gentleman-like than usual, opening doors for her and making polite conversation. Not once did they fight like they normally would have, and it felt nice to Hermione. Somewhere in the middle of the day, Ron began holding her hand as they walked. It felt different, but it didn't feel odd to either one of them, so continued walking around as that. Finally, dusk was beginning to fall and they made their way back to the castle in order to catch dinner.

They entered the Great Hall and sat themselves on either side of Harry, who filled them in on his latest detention with Snape. Both gave their sympathies and then set out to clear their plates in silence. Just as Hermione was helping herself to a bit more roast, the twins entered the room. All three turned and watched as Fred and George made their way down the table. Fred caught Hermione's eye but quickly looked away. He stopped next to Angelina, who had motioned him over. She looked rather serious, but he leaned down and said something to her that must have been funny, for she started laughing. He leaned a bit closer and whispered something in her ear, which made her laugh once more. Hermione's heart skipped, but not in a good way. This seemed so familiar…just then, Fred leaned in and kissed Angelina's cheek.

Hermione gripped the table. The garden, back at the Burrow. He had joked, leaned in and whispered…his lips had been so close to her cheek… Hermione stood up suddenly.

"Oi, Hermione!" Ron hollered after her, but it had no effect. Hermione dashed down the length of the hall, passing Fred without so much as a look, and hurried into the Entrance Hall. Not until she was up the staircase did she realize that she hadn't been breathing. She gasped for air, but with the gasp came a sob. She hurried down a side hallway and collapsed on the floor, sobbing. She sat there, with her back against the wall, for minutes. Finally, she took a deep breath. Tears continued to roll down her cheeks, but she was wrecking her body with harsh, loud sobs anymore.

She turned her head to way she had come when she heard footsteps. She quickly made an attempt to wipe away the tears from her face, but it was in vain. The figure rounded the corner; it was Fred. Hermione turned away from him, but he hurried towards her.

"Please, just go away!" Hermione said loudly.

"Hermione, why the hell were you going to Hogsmeade with Ron?" Fred asked.

Hermione snapped her head towards him. "Am I not allowed to?"

Fred wavered. "You are. I just thought…"

"You thought what?" Hermione asked, jumping to her feet. "I'm sick of you beating around the bush with this whole mess that's happened. Just tell me, for once, what you are thinking instead of censoring it!"

Fred stepped towards her. "I just thought that we were building something."

"Is that why you just did that in there? Made an ass out of me?"

"How could I make an ass out of you if no one knows what's going on!"

Hermione glared at him. "Ginny has a great idea of what's going on, but that's not even the point! You did that to hurt me!"

"Well, did it hurt you?" Fred asked. "Because that's what you leaving with Ron did to me. That's what you getting all dolled up and leaving with that prat who doesn't even care about you did to me!"

Hermione's defenses fell and she closed the distance between them. "What are we doing?" she asked.

"What do you mean?" Fred was very aware of how close she was to him now. He could faintly smell the shampoo that she had used.

"I mean, what are we doing, hurting one another?" she answered softly.

"Then what do you suggest?" he asked. His question received silence; he saw blush crawling onto her cheeks and saw that she didn't know the answer. She was embarrassed, and confused. "Hermione…" he whispered softly. She looked up into his eyes. She nodded once towards him, letting him know she understood. Slowly, he brought his lips down onto hers. He reached around her and pulled her close against him, moving his lips against hers to kiss her once more. Gently, he continuously met his firm lips against her soft pink ones, before hunger started taking over him, and he became more forceful. He flicked his tongue out against her lips, looking to seek entrance; she quickly obliged, parting her lips. Sparks seemed to fly as their tongues touched one another's. He reached under her and lifted her up; she wrapped her legs around his waist as he pushed her back up against the wall. Then continued to mesh their lips together was she ran her hands first through his hair, then down his muscular arms. His hand rested under buttocks, holding her up. He shifted and held her up with one arm, while he moved the other up along her small stomach, to where the sweater's neckline was. He slowly pulled it down, his lips never leaving hers, to reveal the pink cotton bra beneath. He was just pulling the bra down when her hand grabbed his, and she pulled his lips from him.

Fred finally looked up into her eyes for the first time in minutes, and what he saw there made him let her to the ground quickly. She had looked confused, and almost scared. "I'm sorry," she whispered, before hurrying away from him quickly. He watched her go, did not follow her. As she disappeared from sight, he leaned against the cool wall behind him, his manhood aching. God, that girl was wonderful. But what had happened to her…


	8. Chapter 8

**Author's Note:** Guess who got all caught up on her homework? :)

**Chapter Eight**

"Hellooooo? Earth to Hermione!" Ron waved is hand frantically in front of her face. "Oi! What's wrong with you!"

Hermione shook her head and looking up. Ron and Harry were both staring at her intently. "Oh, I'm…I'm sorry. I guess my mind was just on other things." Hermione sighed and shook her head once again. "I haven't been getting much sleep lately."

Ron leaned forward and put his hand over top of hers. "Are you alright?" Harry leaned back, looking from Ron, to Hermione, to their hand, and he wore a confused expression.

Hermione glanced over to her right. Fred was sitting down a few rows and across the table, his face beet red and his fists clenched. Hermione looked back at Ron, squeezed his hand once, and then pulled hers away. "I'm fine," she said, smiling gently at him. Ron leaned back, looking relieved.

It had been a full week since the incident in the hallway with Fred, and she had yet to speak to him. She constantly surrounded herself with Harry and Ron, so that when there was a chance that they would cross paths, he wouldn't be able to mention anything without giving them away. This thoroughly pissed Fred off. More than anything he wanted to sit down and figure things out with Hermione, or maybe do less talking. That pissed him off, too. It had to be because of the spell, but he still did not understand how he had come to be attracted to someone like Hermione; a bookworm, a nagger, someone who lived by the rule book religiously. Not that she wasn't a good person, but she just wasn't his type of person.

George looked over at Fred and pushed him. "What are you looking at Granger like that for?" George said, tapping on one of Fred's clenched fists. "Did she stop you from testing products on first years again?" Fred released his fists and shook his head. George looked closer at his brother. "Seriously, what's up? Don't think I haven't noticed your interest in her. What's been going on?"

Fred sighed and shook his head. "Ron went out on a date with her to Hogsmeade last week."

"And?" George said. "What's the problem with that? If she chooses to date the git, well…that'll prove she's stupid like the rest of us humans."

Fred looked at George incredulously. "He doesn't deserve someone like her!"

Ginny turned and looked over at the twins, as Fred had shouted. George looked over at Ginny, then at Hermione, whose face had turned a violent shade of red. George looked back at Ginny, and Ginny nodded.

"Bloody hell, Fred!" George whispered. "You and Granger?"

Fred got up and grabbed his bag. "I've got to go." He quickly hurried from the hall, lowering his head to hide it from the rest of the dining hall. Hermione watched him go, and when she finally looked back down at the table, she realized that Ginny was watching her intently.

"I think you'd better tell me everything that's going on," Ginny said. She grabbed her bags and grabbed Hermione by the sleeve. Reluctantly, Hermione followed Ginny outside of the hall. Ginny pulled her into an empty classroom and pushed her to sit down on a desk. Hermione realized she had been defeated, and let the whole story come spilling out of her mouth. She ended with a less graphic version of the previous week, mentioning only that there had been some serious kissing before Hermione had gained her wits and ran away.

"So, let me get this straight," Ginny said. "You're falling in love with Fred because of a spell that he 'accidentally' (Ginny used air quotes) cast on you, while you and Ron are finally realizing that you've liked each other all along, and now you're stuck?"

"Wait just a minute!" said Hermione, straightening up. "I am NOT falling in love with Fred, what do you mean 'accidentally', and Ron and I have no liked each other all along!"

"Oh, come off it, Hermione," Ginny said, crossing her arms. "First, it's pretty obvious what's happening between you and Fred. Second, it's pretty obvious you and Ron would go somewhere. Remember how he acted at Yule Ball last year?"

Hermione slouched forward once more. "Okay, okay. But what do you mean 'accidentally?'"

"Fred's usually very good at his spells and magic," Ginny said. "What with all the testing that they do, and with their projects backfiring, he and George have become pretty much masters of reflexes. It seems weird that he hit you with a spell when you surprised him, when any other time, he would have easily been able to put the wand down."

Hermione leaned forward more and closed her eyes. She reached up and began rubbing her temples slowly. "Oh, this is too much to handle! I don't know what I'm going to do!"

"I think you should come clean with Ronald," Ginny said. "And as for Fred, you need to stop avoiding him. You're just making it worse, and you know you're going to have to talk to him again sooner or later."

They sat in silence for a few moments before Hermione finally looked up at Ginny. "You're right. I know you're right. I'm just really not looking forward to this.

"Well, you might want to get a move on, because it's safe to say that George knows by now, too," Ginny said. Hermione's body snapped up straight and her mouth dropped open.

***

Ginny, of course, was right. After Fred's little escape from the dining hall, George had tracked him down and forced a confession out of Fred with some decent work of blackmailing. Unlike Ginny, however, George found it quite hilarious, which caused Fred to shoot him menacing looks.

"Will you stop laughing!" Fred yelled. "This is serious!"

George grabbed his stomach and started breathing heavily, trying to calm down. "Okay, okay. Sorry. So. The girl you're bewitched to is being courted by our younger brother that's been after her heart since at least last year, and you're upset. Explain to me why you're bewitched to her again?"

"I already told you," Fred answered. "She walked in and surprised me when I was working on one of the love potions."

George raised his eyebrows, but kept quiet. "Okay, well. I can't believe I'm saying this, but maybe you should go to Dumbledore about this."

Fred shook his head. "That's not an option. I've never minded trouble before, but I can't get Hermione in that much trouble, that wouldn't be fair to her."

"You actually care for her?" George said. "I thought you would have resisted this just fine."

"Yeah, well, obviously I haven't been able to," said Fred, getting agitated. "And now she won't talk to me at all."

"I wouldn't be too sure of that, mate," George said. Fred gave him a questioning look, but all George did was nod towards the direction behind Fred. Fred turned around and saw Hermione walking hesitantly towards him. He turned back around to George, but he was nowhere to be found. Fred took a deep breath and turned back around to face Hermione.


	9. Chapter 9

**Author's Note:** So, I apologize for the last chapter. I really didn't know what I was doing. But I really wanted to create a love triangle with Fred-Hermione-Ron, and I wanted to set it up some way to let Ron and Hermione's relationship blossom a bit earlier than two years from now. And to those of you who were worried about Ron and Hermione doing certain acts, have no fear. It shall not happen. I just want to add some complication to Fred and Hermione's relationship. Poor Ron, being used like that.

Now let's see if I can redeem myself in this chapter!

**Chapter Nine**

This pain…this horrible pain. It was almost unbearable. No, certain, it was unbearable. His hand fell up to his chest, gripping it, hoping that somewhere he could dispel the pain that was inside of his heart, but it was to no avail. The pain was staying, and it was his entire fault. Fred lay on his bed, curled up into a ball on top of the covers. This is the position he could be found in after class everyday. He hadn't even bothered to take his shoes off; he didn't care. George stood over top his bed, arms crossed.

"Oh, come off it, Fred!" George said. "You did screw her life up a bit, placing that spell on her on purpose. Besides, you're only feeling bad because of the spell."

Fred looked up at George feebly. "It's not just because of the spell."

"What do you mean, it's not just because of the spell?"

Fred finally sat up and faced his twin brother. "Yes, she was a challenge. I'll admit that being a small portion of why I cast the spell on her. But, I also did it because…I don't know. It seemed like a good opportunity."

George's face lit up. "You liked Granger _before_ you cast that spell?"

Fred avoided George's eye, but nodded his head.

"Come on, get up," George said, grabbing Fred's arm. "You're going to go explain that to her right now." Although Fred protested, George practically dragged him down the staircase and into the crowded common room. "Right, now where is she?"

It didn't take long to find Hermione; she was sitting on the couch by the fire, right next to Ron. Harry was sitting across from them in an armchair. Ron was telling them something, and once he was done, Harry and Hermione laughed. Fred watched Hermione's features; her face lit up and her eyes sparkled. Fred wanted to do that for her. Fred wanted to make her happy like that, to make her laugh, and smile, and light up…

George started dragging Fred over to Hermione when he stopped dead. Ron had reached over and taken Hermione's hand. Hermione was blushing a light pink as Ron leaned forward and placed a kiss on her lips. Fred's heart fell as he saw Hermione kiss him back once more. Harry's expression was pure amusement, with a smirk to go along with it. George dropped Fred's arm and instead put his hand on his twin's shoulder. He gently guided Fred back to the staircase, which Fred slowly disappeared up. All hope was lost.

***

Who knew that Ron Weasley could be so sweet! Although the possibility that Ginny had been instructing him on how to act was very likely. Hermione smiled at the flowers that had magically appeared on her nightstand over night. She admired the soft petals, the long stems. Ron had even thought to cute the thorns off of them. Hermione finally pulled herself out of bed and hurriedly got dressed and ready for the day. It was Saturday, so she threw on a pair of jeans, a t-shirt, and a jacket, pulled her hair back, and hurried downstairs. There was Ron, waiting for her. She hurried up to him and wrapped her arms around his neck. "That was very nice of you, Ron."

"Err, right, it was…" Ron said. "What was nice of me?"

Hermione pulled away from him. "The flowers. The roses…that you put on my nightstand."

"I didn't do that, Hermione," Ron said simply. "It must have been someone else, just being nice." He slipped his hand into hers and pulled her towards the portrait hole. "Come on, I'm starving."

Hermione allowed herself to be pulled down to the dining hall, keeping silent as she thought over who could have left those flowers for her the whole time. They took their seats across from Harry and Ginny once downstairs, but Hermione was interested in food. She was scanning the Gryffindor table, trying to get a clue to who did it. Finally, her eyes settled upon Fred. He was staring right back at her. She quickly snapped her head back towards the others, and saw that Ginny was looking straight at her. Hermione blushed and busied herself with filling her plate.

The day went by slowly, snow falling outside the window. Sometime around midday, Harry, Ron, Ginny, George, Lee, and Dean decided that a snowball fight was in order. Hermione politely declined to tag along, instead choosing to stay in the common room by the warm fire and read. She ran up to her room to retrieve a book as they left, and returned back to the common room. Her seat, however, had been filled by Fred Weasley. Hermione slowly approached him, as he watched her every movement.

"It was you who sent those flowers, wasn't it?" Hermione asked him quietly.

"It may have been," Fred said nonchalantly.

"I'm dating your brother, Fred," Hermione said, settling down into a chair across from him.

"But you're enchanted to me," Fred answered simply.

"Well, not by choice! Besides, I haven't felt much of anything except anger towards you."

"And have you ever been angry with me before?" Fred asked, raising an eyebrow, a smirk playing on his lips. "Or just irritated?"

"Well, I suppose I've only ever been irritated with you before," she answered honestly.

"You have to care about someone to be angry with them," Fred answered as he moved out of his chair on his knees and made his way to her slowly. "And considering you're _very_ angry, I believe that means you care about me quite a bit." He reached her and put his hands on her knees.

Hermione quickly glanced around to make sure no one was watching. "That's beside the point!" she hissed. "Beside, like I said, I am dating Ronald, not you. I still have a choice, even if you don't think I do! Thinking it's perfectly alright to cast such a horrible spell on me without my permission!"

The smirk fell from Fred's face and he looked at her sincerely. "We need to talk about that."

"No, I don't believe there's anything left to talk about," Hermione said quietly.

"Hermione, I cast that spell on you because I liked you _before_ the spell, and I knew you had no feelings towards me…I saw the opportunity, didn't think, and just _did_." Fred watched her expression, but she kept her face expressionless as she took it all in. Finally, shock seemed to reside within her.

"You…what?" Hermione said. She glanced around again, and saw that a few second years were watching them curiously. When they saw her looking at them, they quickly looked away. Fred followed her line of vision and stood up.

"Quickly, follow me," he said as he took her hand lightly. Hermione obeyed and followed him up the boy's staircase and into Fred's dormitory. It felt nice, being able to follow him instead of being dragged like she always was with Ron. Fred shut the door behind them and turned back towards her. "I'm sorry I did it, I didn't think beforehand."

Hermione watched him closely. He looked terrified that she would still be upset, and her heart melted a little. Finally, after a long silence, she smiled softly at him. "It's alright, I suppose."

Fred sighed with relief and quickly hurried towards her, wrapping his arms around her. "He doesn't deserve you," Fred whispered into her hair. "He doesn't treat you right. He doesn't treat you how you should be treated." Tears welled up in Hermione's eyes as Fred whispered these sweet things to her. Of course Ron wasn't the gentlest person in the world, she had always known that. She truly didn't see him as a bad person. But he never would say things like what Fred was saying to her. Fred pulled back and looked down at her. "Please don't cry," he said as he reached up and used his thumb to wipe away a tear. "You know, it killed me when I saw you kiss him. I've never experienced pain such as that before."

Hermione looked up at Fred, seeing pain in his eyes as he spoke of the first time Ron had kissed her a few weeks ago. She also saw the pain that she had caused him by being separated for those weeks. The fact that he had placed her into this situation no longer mattered; she just wanted to make him feel better. "Fred, I-"

"Shhh," Fred quickly silenced her. "Just don't talk."

Fred bent his head down and tentatively placed his lips onto her soft pink ones. He waited, seeing if she would pull away or protest, but after a few seconds she responded. He kissed her once more, a bit more forceful this time, and her response came quicker. He reached behind her and pulled her hair out of its ponytail, letting her curls fall loose around her shoulders. She reached behind him and ran her hands down his back, alternating between running her nails and running her palms. Fred opened his lips and lightly licked her lip, asking for entrance, which she quickly gave him. Their tongues met with fury as she gripped around him; she had made out with Ron, but never like this.

Fred reached down and quickly lifted up Hermione; she wrapped her legs around his waist while he held her under her bottom. He kissed down along her jaw, to her neck, to her collarbone, then back up to her neck. He moved up to her ear, where he gently nibbled on her earlobe. An involuntary moan escaped Hermione's lips as he gently blew air into her ear, and a shiver ran up her spine. "Fred…" she whispered hoarsely.

Fred moved across the room quickly and laid her down upon his bed. He moved down onto the bed to lie down beside her, running his hand along her stomach. He slowly raised his hand along her body until he was just below her breasts. He looked at her, waiting. He didn't want a repeat of the last time, where she had run away. She watched him carefully for a few seconds, before smiling and giving a slight nod. Fred grinned back at her and instead of grabbing her, grabbed his wand and flicked it once; Hermione's shirt and pants disappeared, leaving her in her bra and knickers. Hermione gasped and Fred grinned at her. He reached down and finger the lacy material of the thong she was wearing. "Why, I never knew, Granger!" Hermione mumbled something about everything else being dirty, and he just laughed at her. "Mmhm, right."

"Well, things aren't exactly fair yet, now are they?" Hermione said. She reached over and grabbed her wand, and with one flick and a muttering of an incantation, Fred was left in nothing but his boxers. Hermione's breath caught as she saw his defined muscles; Quidditch had done this boy good. Then she looked down at his boxers. Speaking of Quidditch… Hermione left out a laugh. "Chudley Cannons boxers?" Fred grinned and flipped over so that he was now on top of her. He supported his weight with one arm as he bent down and kissed her once more. His free hand began to roam her body, feeling her small waist and flat tummy. He ran his hand back up and maneuvered it under her bra; slowly, he kneaded her nipple between his thumb and forefinger; a moan was silenced by the kisses he kept giving her. Slowly, he moved his hand away from her breast and he heard her whimper. He moved it down across her tummy once more, and to her thigh. He reached up and pulled the material of her knickers out of the way. Gently, he flicked his finger around her swollen spot. Her back arched and she instinctively grabbed his waist. He kissed her hard on the mouth as he flicked it once more, more forceful this time. She moaned into his mouth, and scratched one set of nails down his back as the other hand gripped his waist even tighter.

Fred quickly set to work at kneading her swollen spot, making her writhe beneath him. He pulled away from their kisses and watched her as he pleasured her. Hermione couldn't stand it anymore; she grabbed her wand and flicked it, and the rest of the clothing that adorned both of their bodies disappeared. She grabbed his hand and pulled it up to be beside her bed. "Fred, please…" Her eyes were full of need, and Fred understood what she wanted. He positioned himself over top of her, placed one hand next to her to keep him steady, and used the other to cup her face.

"You've never done this, have you?" he asked her gently. Hermione shook her head, blushing. He kissed her forehead. "I can't promise it will be comfortable at first, but I can promise I'll be gently with you…are you sure you want to do this?"

"Yes," Hermione breathed. She reached up and ran a hand through Fred's short ginger hair.

Fred smiled reassuringly at her and slowly lowered himself towards her; his throbbing manhood gently probed her, slowly entering her body. Instantly, he saw discomfort on her face and her breathing quickened. He stopped and stroked her cheek with his thumb and was about to say something when she spoke. "It's okay. It's okay…" He lowered his head down and kissed her gently as he moved into her a bit more. This time a small cry escaped her lips. He continued to stroke her cheek as he gently whispered that it was okay over and over in her ear. Finally, he was all the way inside of her. He let her take a moment to breathe, before she nodded to him. Slowly, Fred began to move back and forth, gently working. Hermione was still gripping his waist tightly, her eyes closed. Fred kissed her forehead, telling her once again that it was okay.

Finally, Hermione began to relax her grip and move her hips in rhythm with Fred. He smiled down at her and kissed her lips gently. Hermione, however, seemed to have other plans as she forcefully pushed her lips against his. Fred used his free hand to cup her breast as he quickened his pace, thrusting more forcefully into her. They moved in sync, becoming quicker the longer they went. Hermione let out a moan and her back arched. "Fred, I'm about to-"

"Me, too," he moaned into her ear. With one last push, both of their bodies erupted into fire as they reached their limit and came. Fred slowly pulled out of her and lay down next to her. He pushed her sweaty hair out of her face and kissed her cheek. She turned her head towards him and smiled at him. She opened her mouth to speak, but she couldn't find the words to explain everything that was running through her mind. Fred smiled and nodded his head once, understanding exactly what she was thinking. She relaxed and laid her head down on his chest. Thoughts of Ron didn't enter her mind once.


	10. Chapter 10

**Author's Note:** I took out the author update chapter because it was throwing me off, haha. So basically I'll put what it said here. I'm in the middle of "Hell Weeks" AKA post-Thanksgiving pre-Christmas exam/studying weeks. College. Is. Hard. I found time to update some, obviously, but don't be too upset with me if I don't update that much! Oh, and I'm writing this as I'm watching Austin Powers, so I apologize for that, too. :D

**Chapter Ten**

Thoughts of Ron may not have entered her mind while she was with Fred, but as soon as she was back in her own room for the night, Ron seemed to be the only thing on her mind. Guilt washed over her and kept her tossing and turning throughout the night. She had no one to go to; of course Fred would tell her to just dump Ron and be over with it, but it wasn't that easy. She couldn't tell Ginny, because she had cheated on her brother with another one of her brothers. And no one else knew. No one except…Hermione sat up in bed and looked at her clock. Seven in the morning. She jumped out of the bed and threw on the closest clothes she could find before hurrying down to the common room. No one had awoken themselves yet on the Sunday morning, so she walked over to the fire and sat down on the floor, keeping her eyes on the boys' dormitory stairwell.

Slowly, Gryffindors seemed to be rising as they stumbled down the stairwell and out the portrait hole, presumably heading towards the Great Hall. Finally, just as Hermione was starting to drift off, a flash of ginger caught her eye. She shook her head to get her senses together, and looked up in time to see George heading towards the portrait hole. She stood up quickly and rushed over to him.

"George, hold up!" she said, tapping him on the arm.

George turned around and gave Hermione an odd look. "Yeah?"

"I need your…advice," Hermione said slowly, the words not sounding as right out loud as they did inside her head. "About Fred."

George's face screwed up. "I don't know what you're talking about…"

"Oh, come off it," Hermione said, exasperated. "You're his twin and partner in crime, I'm pretty sure you know exactly what I'm talking about."

George sighed. "Alright, fine. I know. He bewitched you, but you're dating wittle Ronniekins. It seems like you're trying your best to ignore the enchantment."

Hermione flushed a dark shade of red as she muttered, "Ignoring it so much that I spent some 'quality' time in your dormitory with him yesterday while you guys were outside?"

George's mouth dropped open. "Bloody hell, Granger, not only did I not know you had it in you to do anything like that, but to do it behind Ron's back?!"

Hermione shook her head. "I shouldn't have come to you for help, that was stupid of me. Sorry."

George held up his hand. "Calm down, goodness. I was only saying that isn't like you. Now, I don't need to know any details, at least not from you." Hermione looked outraged that he would suggest that Fred would tell him, but he just winked and continued. "But obviously you don't care much for Ron, or at least not more than this enchantment with Fredward. So I say tell Ron that something has happened, some things have changed, and he'll get pissed, but he'll bounce back and be asking for your homework in no time." George patted her twice on the shoulder. "Now if you'll excuse me, my stomach is roaring."

Hermione stared after George in shock as he made his way out of the portrait hole. How dare he suggest that she not care about Ron! Of course she cared about Ron…didn't she? She stumbled over to an armchair and lowered herself into it heavily. Lost in her thoughts, contemplating his relationship and her feelings, she didn't notice Ron come down the staircase and stand in front of her."

"Oi, Hermione!" Ron practically shouted. Hermione jumped and looked up; Ron must have been saying her name a few times before this, for he was giving her quite an odd look. "What's up with you?"

"I, um…I just…" Hermione paused, took a deep breath, and then continued. "Ronald I think it would be best if we remained just friends. Some things have happened that are beyond my control, and well. No excuses. I just feel it be better that we remain best friends. Our relationship is more of that, don't you think?" She slowly looked up to meet his eyes.

"If that's what you want," Ron said slowly, making sure each word came out calmly. More than anything he wanted to ask questions, demand an answer, accuse her of leading him on for all these years. "That's fine. Right. Well. I'll see you, then." He turned and hurried from the room, face red with embarrassment.

Hermione sagged back into the chair and covered her eyes with the back of her hand; the coolness against her flushing forehead felt nice. The deed had been done; all she had to do was wait until Ron calmed down and things went back to normal, and everything would be fine. Well, not exactly everything. She had to figure things out with-

"Hello, love," Fred whispered in her ear. Hermione jumped a little and lowered her hand to find Fred standing in front of her. "So, George tells me that you talked to him this morning."

"That boy can't keep a secret to save his life," Hermione muttered.

Fred grinned down at her. "Well, then. Have you done it?"

"If you mean end things with Ronald, then yes, I have," Hermione said, avoiding his eyes.

Fred reached up and gently but firmly grabbed her chin and turned her face back towards his. "Don't tell me you're sad about that git!"

Hermione pushed his hand away and stood up. "He's not a git, at least not all of the time. And yes, I am sad, because I actually care about him, or people in general, unlike you!"

Fred mocked a frown. "Come now, Granger, surely you don't mean _all_ of those things?"

Hermione shook her head in disgust. "I really don't understand you, and I'm not sure I want to." She turned to head towards the dormitories, but Fred quickly grabbed her hand.

"Hermione," he said. Simply that. Nothing more, nothing less, and she found herself turning back towards him. The look in his eyes was the look that had been there just yesterday. And she found herself being melded to him once again.

**Author's Note: **Before anyone says anything, no one's in the Common Room. READ AND REVIEW!


	11. Chapter 11

**Author's Note: **I've had terrible writer's block. So I'm dabbling a little at this. I'm not even sure where to go from here. It's just kind of…stuck. SO. I'm completely open to suggestions! Send them via review. ;)

**Chapter Eleven**

Two days passed by, and Hermione found herself waiting in the cold Common Room just past midnight. She had planned to meet Fred; they hadn't seen each other much over the past two days. Never before had Hermione realized just how difficult it was to sneak around at this school. Time passed by, and before she knew it, it was past two in the morning. She sighed, stood up, and headed up the staircase.

***

The next week Hermione found herself once again in the Common Room just past midnight. Fred had apologized numerous times for missing their previous appointment, but Hermione had been reluctant to plan another meeting. Finally, she had given in. So there she sat, waiting anxiously for his footfalls to sound down the boy's staircase, but once again, she spent nearly two hours cold and alone before she could admit to herself that he wasn't coming.

***

Hermione was busy with her O.W.L. studies while Harry and Fred were off at Quidditch practice at all possible moments on the day. That left Ron back in the castle with Hermione, but that didn't mean that she had seen much from him. Ever since that day when she had broken up with him, he had seemed to abandon her friendship, but she couldn't really blame him. It was as she sat at a corner table in the Common Room that the said redhead made his way over to her with his school bag and plopped down across from her. Hermione jumped and looked up. A look of confusion was evident on her face.

"What are you doing here?" she asked him.

"Am I not allowed to be here?" Ron questioned back.

"No, no, of course you are," she hastily replied. "It's just, well…you've been ignoring me for the past few weeks, since…" Hermione trailed off, but she needn't bother to fill in the gap. Ron nodded his head.

"Yes, well, I figured I couldn't stay mad at you much longer," Ron answered. "Besides, I've been doing dreadful without your help on my homework." His sideways grin broke out, and Hermione couldn't help but smile, too.

It was like this that Harry, Fred, and George found the two later on that evening after practice had ended. Fred and George headed towards the middle of the room where Lee was showing off his pet tarantula and Harry took a seat beside Ron. "Made up, then, have you two?" he asked, smiling wearily. Neither Hermione nor Ron answered his question directly, but smiled and questioned him on the practice.

Fred, however, was the opposite of happy. He couldn't bring himself to fane interest in the spider when Hermione was over there giggling and smiling next to that prat of a brother of his. Hermione was none to pleased with him, he knew that, but he honestly hadn't meant to hurt her feelings. The first night George hadn't gone to bed quite as early as he would have liked, and the second night he had fallen asleep just before midnight. He hadn't meant any harm, but his named was mud in Hermione's book. Or maybe, Ron's named just replaced his on the top of her list.

"Oi, Fred!" George said, slapping his brother upside his head. "Get your wits together, would you?" George followed Fred's line of sight. "Have your eyes on Granger again, do you? Why do you look so angry?"

"No reason," Fred answered sharply. "I think I'll be off to bed, then." George made to protest, but Fred just held his hand up before stalking off to his dormitory.

Hermione, Ron, and Harry spent the rest of the evening laughing and talking, while Hermione managed to squeeze some more homework into the mix. It was half past eleven when the boys headed upstairs. Hermione set off to her homework once more, determined to finish the essay that Snape had set for them this morning. A light hand on her shoulder made her jump. She turned and faced Fred.

"Oh," she said, "so you'll be here on nights we don't plan to meet, but on the nights that we do, you don't?"

"Shut it, woman," Fred said sharply. Hermione looked outraged. "What were you doing, chucking it up with Ron all evening?"

Hermione slammed her book close. "What's it to you? Am I not supposed to have friends anymore?"

"What's it to me?" Fred said, his temper flaring. "You damn well know what it is to me, Granger!"

"DO NOT!" Hermione shouted, poking Fred square in the chest as she stood up. "DO NOT CALL ME GRANGER! SHOW ME SOME RESPECT!" Fred kept his mouth shut; he'd never seen this type of temper of hers. "TOMORROW! WE GO TO DUMBLEDORE AND GET THIS SPELL TAKEN OFF TOMORROW!"

Hermione grabbed her books and stomped off to her dormitory, leaving Fred at a loss for words in her wake.


	12. Chapter 12

**Author's Note:** I'm not trying to be rude, but if you can't be nice and respectful in a review, then don't review at all. I've read through what I've written, and I'm pretty sure that I've explained everything thoroughly enough, even WHY Fred hit Hermione with the spell. Also, about what will happen in this chapter is explained thoroughly, and slight spoiler, the choice that is made is not so that anything is weakened. So if you're going to say that my writing is retarded, make sure you read it thoroughly, or simply just stop reading and keep your mouth shut. If you can review and be nice and give me constructive criticism, you're quite welcome to. :)

**Chapter Twelve**

Hermione was still furious the next morning as she got up and prepared for the day of school. She couldn't believe the nerve of that boy. He was completely capable of blowing her off repeatedly, but when it came to her talking to one of her old friends, he thought that he could just swoop in and control her, then just swoop back out again. The day progressed slowly as she waited for the last class to be over in order to scoop up Fred and head straight to Dumbledore's office. As the bell finally rang, signaling the end of the last class, she made her way into the hallway and up to the portrait of the Fat Lady to wait for Fred to appear. It took fifteen minutes for him to finally show, with George and Lee at his side. He quickly gave them an excuse and walked over to her.

"Hermione," he said quietly. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean what I said last night."

"Just save it, Fred. Come on." She turned on her heel and headed off down the hall; Fred had to take strides to catch up to her. She walked determinedly towards the area of the school where Dumbledore's office was. As they turned the corner to the hallway where the statue that stood in front of the staircase to Dumbledore's office, however, Hermione ran smack into Professor McGonagall.

"Ms. Granger!" Professor McGonagall exclaimed. "What on earth are you doing at this part of the castle?" She looked up and saw Fred approaching. "Mr. Weasley!"

"We need to speak with Professor Dumbledore," Hermione said. "It's quite urgent."

"Well I'm afraid that he is currently not accepting visitors," Professor McGonagall answered. "You may, however, follow me to your office and I will assist you as best I can. Come now."

Hermione and Fred had no choice but to silently follow Professor McGonagall to her office. Once inside, McGonagall pointed her wand towards the fireplace; a fire appeared instantly. She strode around to stand behind her desk and swept her arms out. "Well, sit!" Hermione and Fred quickly filled the two chairs that stood in front of her desk, and McGonagall sat down. "Now, what is so important?"

Fred glanced over at Hermione, but she was determinedly keeping her focus anywhere but Fred. "You see, Professor…" Hermione began. And the tale came spilling out quickly. Hermione felt a weight lift off her shoulders; whether she would be punished or not, she couldn't help but feel relief that someone who might be capable of fixing the huge mess that the prat had made now was aware of the situation. "…and we aren't sure if there could be anyway to get rid of the enchantment," Hermione finished breathlessly. She was out of breath; she had been trying to get the whole story out there so fast that she had nearly forgotten to breathe.

Professor McGonagall stood suddenly, creases stretching across her worried looking face. She strode over to the fireplace and proceeded to pace in front of it. Hermione finally looked over at Fred; his face was blank as he looked back at her. Hermione's palms were sweating and her heart was racing; she was beginning to get scared. Maybe it had been a bad idea to go to someone about this. It was already bad enough that she had to endure Ginny's smirking looks of understanding and George's cocky grins, but now she could have possibly put herself, and Fred, in actual trouble. She shouldn't have been so rash and let her anger control her actions. Yes, Fred was a right prick, but she should have thought this through more. McGonagall cleared her throat, causing Hermione to jump.

"It was foolish of you two to keep this hidden for so long," McGonagall spoke clearly. "Who else knows about this?"

"Just Ginny and George," Fred finally spoke. "But they haven't spoken to anyone, and they've known for weeks."

"Of course," Professor McGonagall sighed. "As of right now, I know nothing of a 'cure' for your situation, but I have a few ideas. Now, for what we will do in the time being." She turned and faced the two finally. "Obviously you two have been getting along without much incident." Fred snorted, and McGonagall gave him a sharp look. "There is not much we can do. We can test a few theories, see if we cannot weaken this enchantment, but I'm afraid other than that, the best we can do is just to sit tight and see if we can't find something. I'll be informing Professor Dumbledore of your situation, but you will be seeing me with anything that directly deals with this. Do you understand?" Hermione and Fred both nodded silently.

"Let's get to it, then." Professor McGonagall walked around her desk and sat down on her chair. She placed her elbows on the table and joined together her hands, fingertip to fingertip, making a type of pyramid that she rested her chin upon. "There are two options that we have at the present time. The first would be seeing if separating you two would weaken the connection. The second would be seeing if keeping you two in each other's presence for the majority of the time would be able to stop the enchantment from strengthening. Obviously, one cannot work with the other, so we are taking a heavy risk at this point in time with which ever we are to try. I am, however, leaning towards trying to stop it from strengthening, or rather, you two keeping at each other's side."

"But Professor," Hermione said urgently. "There is no possible way that we can be together that often. We've got classes, he's got Quidditch practice, I've got the library-" Fred snorted. "What?" Hermione asked exasperatedly.

"You act like it's required to go to the library, is all," Fred said humorously.

"It is a requirement if one is to do well in school, something you clearly do not understand!" Hermione said, clenching her fists.

"Enough!" McGonagall said sternly. "You two are going to need to learn how to control these strong feelings in order to get through this!"

"It's harder said than done, Professor," Hermione mumbled. "He's a right ass no matter what, this one."

Fred's mouth dropped while Professor McGonagall clutched at her heart, shocked. "Ms. Granger!" McGonagall seemed to be at a lost for words, before she managed, "Ten points from Gryffindor, five for backtalk and five for language! This is something I'd expect from Weasley, but not you!"

Fred smiled a bit as Hermione shifted in her seat, her cheeks burning up. "I'm sorry, Professor," she said quietly.

"Something I'd expect from Mr. Weasley…" McGonagall repeated. "It could be entirely possible that you two are, er, what's the expression…'rubbing off on one another.' You two are bonded magically, so it is entirely possible for you two to be sharing some character traits. For example, Mr. Weasley has always been able to find humor in any situation. I believe that was your attempt at humor." Fred laughed, unsuccessfully trying to cover it up with a cough.

"Right then," McGonagall said. "Our plan of action will be this: I am going to jump you up to the N.E.W.T. level classes that Mr. Weasley is currently taking, Ms. Granger." Hermione blanched, but McGonagall only smiled. "I have no worries that you will excel, Ms. Granger. We will say that you are just shadowing an older student for the next couple of weeks. That excuse should suffice. You will have to attend all of the Gryffindor Quidditch practices, and Mr. Weasley, I will expect you to accompany her to the library as a favor in return. You must accompany one another to the dining hall, to anywhere in the castle you may go. In other words, one must never be out of the other's sight. Now, as for your living arrangements-"

"What do you mean, living arrangements?" Fred questioned.

"I mean, Mr. Weasley, that I will be moving you two into an empty teacher's quarters so as to have the privacy. When I said I expect you two to never leave one another's sight, I meant fully that you are to not. That includes sleeping arrangements." McGonagall shifted a bit uncomfortably in her seat before continuing. "If you will come with me, I will lead you there now." She stood and snapped her fingers. A house elf appeared at her feet.

"How may I help you, mizzuz?" the elf squeaked out as it bowed.

"Please retrieve Ms. Granger's and Mr. Fred Weasley's belongings and take them to the empty teacher's quarters in the West Tower. Please make sure that there are two beds in there, also. We shall be arriving there in twenty minutes." The elf bowed once and with a crack, had disappeared. Hermione frowned at the elf; Fred looked over and smiled at the frown. He knew that she was thinking about house elf rights.

When McGonagall had said that it would take them twenty minutes to arrive, she hadn't been joking. It took the three of them that amount of time to weave their way through the labyrinth of hallways until they finally climbed a small set of spiral staircases into a loft type of quarters. McGonagall gave them the password, told them to come report to her in three days, and left them to their new room. Hermione determinedly watched McGonagall disappear down the steps, prolonging the moment she would have to turn and face Fred. Finally, she closed the door that resembled a trap door in the floor, and turned to face Fred.


	13. Chapter 13

**Author's Note:**For Preetoako: I attempted to make this one a bit longer! This is really a filler chapter, but I pushed myself a bit more to get more in there! I'll keep pushing myself, just for you. :D

**Chapter Thirteen**

"So, you're stuck with me now," Fred said simply. "You're going to get tired of being mad at me and fall for my charm and good looks, and it'll all be downhill from there, now won't it?" He grinned that little sideways grin of his as he walked towards her in what she supposed he thought was a seductive way but she quickly sidestepped him and took in the room.

It was really a nice room. It did look that it hadn't be inhabited for quite some time, but as it was a teacher's quarters, it was quite cozy and quaint. Two twin sized beds consumed the back wall, standing side by side with about a foot in between them. A fireplace was on the wall to the left of the beds, a fire crackling merrily inside. The wall space that extended to either side of the fireplace was filled with windows, the curtains drawn back to let in the late evening light. A couch sat in front of the fireplace, and a door was directly behind the couch. Hermione looked inside; there was a private bathroom with a large bath tub nearly rivaling the size of the one in the prefect's bathroom.

"Honestly, Fred," she said finally, turning back to face him as she placed her hands upon her hips, "I cannot fathom why you assume that I would fall for something as stupid as that." She walked over to a small table that sat beside the couch and fingered through the books that sat there. "So, I don't know about you, but I'm starving, and I think I owe Harry and Ron some type of explanation."

"You don't owe Ron anything," Fred said sharply.

Hermione whipped around and glared at Fred. "Get. Over. Yourself." She walked towards him and once again placed her hands upon her hips. "I will be friends with whomever I want. You can trust me when I say that once we figure out how to either break this enchantment or live through it, you will not be a huge part of my life. You'll go back to being my best friend's older, annoying brother, and that will be all. I assure you."

Fred shrugged as he turned around and lifted the trapdoor up. "You better be coming, because I'm heading down."

Hermione huffed but she followed him silently down the steps and towards the Great Hall. It took twice as long as it normally would, but they finally walked through the double doors. They walked about half the length of the table, where they first reached Lee and George. George moved over to make room for Fred, but Hermione pinched Fred to remind him of their agreement with McGonagall before walking down to where Ginny, Harry, and Ron were sitting. Fred grimaced at his brother and friend and followed Hermione, taking a seat beside her. Ginny cocked a grin, which Hermione pointedly ignored, while Harry and Ron gave them questioning looks.

"Er, so," Hermione began awkwardly. "McGonagall has given me the chance to…observe a N.E.W.T. level student, and the student happened to be Fred. So I will be pretty busy…" She cleared her throat and glanced at either of the boys. "Fred and I will also being around each other quite a bit."

Harry and Ron were obviously not convinced, but they dropped the subject and jumped into the topic of Quidditch with Fred. Ginny leaned over and whispered quietly to Hermione, "So what's really up?"

Hermione leaned forward towards her and quickly explains, "I forced him to go with me to McGonagall. She wants to see if we can contain this by being at each other's side constantly. Kind of a way to prevent it from strengthening anymore, seeing how when we were separate before, it kind of grew." Hermione was obviously displeased with this last bit of information. She shook her head and continued. "So we've been reassigned to an old teacher's quarters, and I'll be attending all of his classes with him."

Ginny's eyes widened. "So you aren't happy about this, then? I thought maybe you two were giving in and cooking something up." She wiggled her eyebrows playfully.

"He's a right prick," Hermione said sharply. "I'd be better off with the donkey itself."

Ginny leaned back and grinned. "Way to get some guts, Hermione!" Hermione grinned cheekily before diving into her dish.

Shortly after, Hermione stood up and looked towards Fred. "I think I'll be heading to the library now."

"Alright," Harry said distractedly.

"Bye," Ron answered through a mouthful of potatoes.

A few moments passed before Hermione stated once more, "I'll be heading to the library now." Still, Fred continued to talk to the two boys. Finally, Hermione reached out and smacked him upside his head. Fred turned around, stunned, but upon seeing the exasperated look on Hermione's face, he jumped up.

"Right, right," Fred said. "The library. Well, bye." With that he headed off in front of Hermione, who quickly fell into step beside him. "You could have been a bit more gentle, you know," Fred said quietly. "I hadn't realized what you were saying. It is going to be a bit hard, getting used to all of this, you know. I'm only human."

Hermione threw him a curious look. "I think you're starting to get my emotions and characteristics." Finally, a smile cracked upon her face. "Alright, then. I'll try to be more understanding if you stop being a possessive prat."

"Hey!" Fred said. "That wasn't very understanding."

Hermione grinned once more. "So it's a deal, then?" She held out her hand towards Fred.

"I suppose," Fred said, taking her hand and shaking it.

***

"Fred, come on!" Hermione threw a pillow at his head. Fred groaned and pulled the covers over his head, mumbling something about "sodding off." Hermione attempted to pull the covers down, but was unsuccessful. "Fred, honestly! This is my first day of N.E.W.T. classes and I will not have you making me late! I'm leaving, and I suggest you come, or McGonagall will surely notice!"

Fred's head finally emerged from underneath the covers and he looked at her wearily. "And how would you look, walking into my class by yourself?" However, he pulled himself out of bed and stumbled into the bathroom. Five minutes later, he exited the bathroom, dressed messily in his robes. "Alright then, let's go."

"So," Hermione said as they walked out into the hall. "Where to first?"

"Transfiguartion," Fred answered. "McGonagall will be extra careful to keep an eye on us. Lovely."

As they entered the classroom, George and Lee grinned and waved Fred over, but once their eyes fell on Hermione, their faces changed from joy to confusion. Hermione followed Fred over and took the seat at the end of their table.

"Er, Hermione is shadowing me for awhile," Fred said simply. "McGonagall's idea. Apparently she's too brainy for O.W.L. level classes."

"Where were you last night?" George asked. He obviously didn't care much about Hermione's attending their class, nor did he question why Hermione would follow Fred. He already knew about the spell, so he figured that it had to do something with that, and he left it at that.

"I've been reassigned new quarters for now," Fred said.

"Right," Hermione said quickly. "So he can help me better. Privacy, no distractions. That sort of thing." Fred's face burned red as Lee let out a wolf whistle and laughed. Hermione clamped her mouth shut and determinedly turned to the front of the classroom. Shortly after, the bell rang to commence class and McGonagall set them about their task for the day: conjuring an identical replica of the vase in front of them out of thin air. Hermione blanched as she was given this task. "Fred," she whispered urgently. "Fred, I'm not sure I can do this. I've never done something like this before. I've always had something to work with, but now…now I have to pull it out of nowhere!"

Fred glanced at McGonagall, who was keeping a watchful eye on them. "You're not expected to be doing it perfectly, you know that," he whispered. "Just calm down and give it a try. You can't do it if you're all nervous about it."

Hermione nodded and turned back to her work. She lifted and flicked her wand, saying "Inevito!" as she studied the vase. However, nothing appeared before her. Crestfallen, she put her wand on the desk.

Fred studied her carefully, before saying, "Just keep trying. You'll be able to get it. You're smart. Just keep at it, don't give up." Hermione looked over at him, studying his face. He was being so…sweet. Supportive. Hermione straightened up, took her wand, and flicked it again, saying the spell more clearly. A vase appeared before her, but it wasn't exactly the right shape, and it didn't have the paint detail that was on the model. However, it was something, which caused Hermione to smile. Fred reached over and squeezed her hand. "I told you," he whispered, before he let go of her hand and turned towards his work. Hermione kept her eyes on him a few moments longer than necessary, before turning back to her work, smiling.

By the end of the class, Hermione had managed to get the vase in the right shape and get most of the paint detail, other than a few flowers that refused to be blue instead of red. However, she left the class in high spirits with Fred by her side. "I can't wait to practice!" Hermione exclaimed. "This is so challenging!"

Fred rolled his eyes. "You're the only one who would be dissatisfied with the work that you did in there. Everyone else had bigger problems than the color of a few flowers."

"Almost is not good enough," Hermione said simply. "Why would someone stop before they could do their best?"

"Well, I understand that," Fred answered. "But it's not something important, is it? I would settle for almost when it was something that wouldn't matter as much, something that wouldn't be worth my time. Only would I strive for the best, not just my best, when it was something worth it."

Hermione stared at him. "Are you sure you're Fred Weasley?"

Fred grinned. "And part Hermione Granger," he answered cheekily.

***

The evening came quickly; Hermione had progressed greatly in Potions (despite Snape) and Charms, but the day had taken its toll on her and by the time that she and Fred reached their private quarters, she was ready to collapse. She walked over to the couch and slumped down on it, closing her eyes briefly. Fred kept quiet as he dropped his school bag on his bed and sat down on the couch beside her. Hermione opened her eyes to look over at him wearily. "I suppose we should get started on homework," he said quietly.

Hermione shook her head as she sat up. "I think that I should go get a bath and go to sleep," she said, standing up. She paused and looked back at him; McGonagall had been completely right. They were sharing their characteristics completely. Here was Fred, so ready to do homework, and here she was, so ready to skive it off. She smiled, and as Fred smiled, she knew that he had been thinking the exact same thing. Fred stood up with her. "Alright then, bath it is." He waggled his eyebrows at her.

Hermione shook her head. "No, absolutely not. That is where I put my foot down."

"Oh, come on, Hermione!" Fred said, exasperated. "You heard McGonagall, we have to be beside each other. Besides," he stepped forward, placing his hands on her hips and pulling her towards him, "it's not like I haven't seen you before."

Hermione placed her hands around his wrists and attempted to take his hands away from her hips, but he was much stronger than her and he stayed in place. "I don't think it will be that big of a deal if I'm just in the other room for a bit," she grunted, continuing to attempt to remove his hands.

Fred sighed and removed his hands, sitting back down so as to let her pass. "Alright, I suppose I'll just being doing homework out here, all by my lonesome…"

Hermione grabbed a change of clothes and her wand, walking into the bathroom. Before she closed the door, she turned and grinned at him. "You do that." She winked, closed the door, and charmed it to stay locked. Fred watched her carefully before grabbing his schoolbag and taking out some work to get done.

**Author's Note:** So, if you have any constructive criticism, or can tell me how you like it without being disrespectful, please leave me a review! Not very exciting, I know, but I just wanted to get them started into things a bit. I have ideas chasing each other around inside my brain, so I'll be contemplating a few ways to progress this story!


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